A Petersburg company looking to develop a subdivision is one step closer to purchasing borough land for the project. That’s after the Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously last week to approve an application from Skylark Park LLC.
Ambre Burrell co-owns Skylark Park. She was one of a handful of people who asked assembly members to green-light the project.
“Here we go again,” she said. “I just hope this time we can come to a realistic evaluation on undeveloped land.”
It’s the second time Skylark has applied to purchase borough land. Last fall the process fell apart after the company protested that the land was too expensive. Burrell said at the time the price would make the improved lots unaffordable for potential buyers. But municipal code didn’t allow the borough to sell its land to private businesses at below assessed value.
So borough officials, concerned with Petersburg’s housing shortage, drafted new language making it possible to sell the land at below assessed value if the development will benefit the public. The assembly approved the change in March of this year.
But the proposed Skylark development isn’t a done deal.
The company’s application will now go to the Planning Commission on Nov. 12, where members will vote whether or not to recommend that the application proceed. If it moves forward, Skylark Park’s application will still need to go before the borough assembly multiple times, where it will also get a public hearing. Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said that puts the timeline for a potential completed sale into the new year.
